Chapter Twelve

When he woke the next night just after sunset, he was alone in the bed. He couldn't figure out why he was in a bed, since he had been sleeping on the couch at LindyÕs... [Oh yeah.] Nathaniel remembered he was at Lindy's parent's place in Washington DC.

He got out of bed, glad to be alone while he was getting dressed. The last thing he needed was a repeat of the night before. Lindy had stayed stock still all night while he had tossed and turned. Thankfully, no more trips to the bathroom had been necessary.

After he dressed, he opened the door searching for Lindy. The quiet hum of conversation drew his attention, and he followed it downstairs to the kitchen, where he found Lindy and Jess talking. "Evening, Nathaniel," Jess said. "Sleep well?"

He glanced at Lindy. "As well as can be expected. It always takes me a while to get used to a strange bed."

Lindy bit her lip to hide a smile.

"What would you like to eat?" Jess asked. "I'd be glad to make something for you."

"Let me help you with that," he said, walking around the counter.

"You cook?"

"He makes pasta from scratch," Lindy said, somewhat proudly. "It was excellent."

Nate grinned, opening the fridge. He took a quick inventory of the contents, pausing on the second shelf. He pulled out a heavy plastic bag, partially filled with dark liquid. "Do you normally keep bags of blood in your refrigerator?"

Lindy frowned, glancing at Jess. Jess looked away almost shyly, earning both of their undivided attention. "We have some 'acquaintances' in the medical profession who owed us a favor or two. We thought it might be easier for you if we had some on hand...in case you either weren't comfortable going out, or didn't have a chance."

Nate's eyebrows rose. "Wow...thank you. Honestly, I hadn't even thought about that yet. I made sure I'd....been sated, before we left. But it will certainly be a pressing need tomorrow night."

Lindy was still looking at Jess. "Somehow you still always manage to surprise me."

Jess shrugged, smiling a bit. "It's a gift. And speaking of tomorrow night, what are you going to do?"

Lindy blinked. "What's tomorrow?"

Jess gave her a funny look. "The full moon?"

Lindy smacked her hand against her head. "I completely forgot."

Nate looked up from breaking an egg over a bowl. "What's the problem?"

Jess looked back over her shoulder at him. "Well, we're going to be out for most of the evening, or at least me, Alex, Walter and Amanda."

"I see." Grabbing a whisk out of the nearby container, he looked at Lindy and said, "I've got things I could be doing, too. Don't stick around for my benefit."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sure that blood in the fridge will keep for a while. I can go out and get something fresh of my own." He glanced at Jess. "Sorry for being so blunt."

"No need to apologize for who you are, Nate. We certainly don't." Turning to wash her hands, she said, "Well, what are we making?"

"Whatever you want. I think I've been around long enough...I can make just about anything."

Jess smiled. "Just how old are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Nine-hundred and thirty." He lowered his voice. "For a couple more weeks, anyway."

Jess gave him an innocent smile. "And when is your birthday exactly?"

"Don't answer her, Nate!" Lindy shot a glare at Jess. "Trust me, you don't want her messing with you on her birthday."

"Lindy, when have I messed with someone on their birthday?"

"What about Walter?"

"That wasn't a birthday. That was an anniversary." She smiled as Alex walked into the room. "Nate's offered to make us dinner."

He snorted. "You could always be bribed with food, Jess."

"Yeah, that's true. I remember that I slept with a cute green eyed Russian after he made me a killer lasagna." Alex didn't look too amused as he sat down besides Jess. She gave him a friendly cuff on the head. "Would you lighten up?"

Nate lowered his gaze, swallowing his retort. While he was usually able to charm women, he was fairly accustomed to men disliking him. Anton and Ivan were excellent examples of that. He really wasn't surprised by Alex's reaction to him...but he had to admit, if only to himself, that it stung. He'd hoped to make a good impression on Lindy's family. After Anton, it was as close as he could ever hope to come to having a family of his own. At least Walter hadn't seemed to mind him too much.

Concentrating on the ingredients before him, he tried to ignore the other man's presence as much as he could.

Alex watched the vampire, assessing him carefully. When he first heard NathanielÕs voice on the phone, he had been shocked. Lindy had been shy throughout high school, so he hadn't even considered the possibility that she was living with someone. It had been a bigger shock to hear the man speak fluent Russian.

But the largest shock was when Lindy called back the next day to explain. He, Jess and Walter had a long discussion about Nathaniel, and how to treat the situation. Jess and Walter had taken a wait-and-see approach, willing to judge him by how he treated their daughter. Alex wasn't so sure.

He knew the boy would be on his best behavior, now that he was under scrutiny. The true revelation of his character would come later, when he thought no one was watching. Thinking about the coming night, Alex had to wonder if following Nathaniel wasn't a better idea than staying close to the family.

Setting a plate discretely in front of him, Nathaniel dished out the first omelet to Alex...no doubt a gesture of submission. He stared at the kid--funny, thinking of a nine-hundred-year-old as a kid--wondering what it would take to make him crack. After a moment, Nate broke the stare down and walked away. Alex couldn't help but grin...once his back was turned.

He took a bite of the offered food, and surprisingly had to suppress a moan. Quickly swallowing the mouthful, he hurriedly scooped up another.

When he'd finished, he surprised even himself by telling the kid it was good.

Nate, true to form so far, nodded but didn't so a word.

Anton sat at the computer, typing his notes up on his analysis of the Victorian settee and watching Bryn out of the corner of his eye. She was looking over a catalog of art supplies, scribbling notes and muttering to herself.

When she first suggested this job, he went along with the idea, ready to support her fully. It sounded more like a hobby that she'd be paid for, the first way she explained it. But the comments she was making, this sounded a lot more labor and time intensive.

She looked up suddenly, the ponytail on top of her head swinging around behind her. "You know, I may just have to rethink my hours. I know a lot of people work during the day, so evenings would work well...but I'm going to need some natural light to make sure I'm using the right colors and stuff. Maybe 4 to 10, instead of 6." She thought for a minute, her tongue sticking out between her teeth. "And probably weekends, too. I think I'd get most of my clients then."

He was about to open his mouth to reply when she suddenly added, "Hey, were you thinking of going on some sort of honeymoon? Because I'd have to work my schedule around that."

"I hadn't thought about that, my dear." This was definitely sounding more like full time work, and he wasn't sure he liked it. "Was there anywhere you wanted to go? And what about as you get closer to your due date?"

"Well there are a lot of places I'd like to go! I feel as if I've never been anywhere...at least compared to you. You've probably seen the world several times over." Lowering her catalog, she tilted her head. "What about my due date? You mean will I continue to work?"

He nodded.

"Um, I hadn't thought about it, but I don't see why I couldn't continue working. I doubt I'll be doing anything too strenuous."

"Okay." He didn't know how to express his unease. None of his other wives had wanted to work, having been content for him to care for them financially. And since there had been no real reason, Anton hadn't particularly encouraged it. So he wasn't sure quite how to deal with this situation, mostly because he hadn't pinned down yet why he was unsettled.

"Unless, of course, my stomach gets too big for me to reach the wall," she said, grinning. When he didn't smile in return, hers faded. "Or, unless you don't want me to?"

"No... no, not at all," he protested. He just realized what his problem was, and was more than a bit chagrined by it. "You sound excited by it, and if it makes you happy, I want you to do it."

Sabryn wasn't convinced. "But...." she said, encouraging him to continue.

"It just sounds like you'll be gone an awful lot. Six hours a night, plus weekends..."

"Well, let's see," she said, holding up her fingers to count it off. "I'd probably work four days a week--I'd have to have at least one day off. So, four times six is twenty-four, right?"

"Yeah, and weekends?"

"Eight hours a day on weekends, most likely, although I could do less. That's sixteen more hours. Twenty-four plus sixteen is forty. That's the same amount anyone else works, Anton." She put down her hands, shrugging her shoulders. "I know I said I'd probably only work part time, but that was before...when I was thinking of doing a normal job. This is something that combines both my art and my need to be doing something. It's the perfect thing for me to do as a profession. Let's face it, I'm not going to be looking at my paintings in a museum anytime soon. I might as well get it up on someone's wall while I have the chance."

"Don't belittle your talent, Bryn. San Francisco has a lot of museums and galleries, so you may be noticed sooner than you think." Saving the file, he walked over to the bed and sat down besides her.

She leaned against him as he put an arm around her, hand coming to rest on her stomach. "Come on, Anton. What's bothering you?"

"It sounds silly," he mumbled, with a slight shake of his head.

"Then we'll have a good laugh at it." She snuggled closer to his side. "Tell me."

"It sounds like you're going to be gone an awful lot."

"You already said that," she said, teasingly. "Besides, most of the time I'll be gone, you'll be asleep. Especially as summer starts coming around. I know you don't like waking up alone...but at least you won't have to go to bed alone."

"True," he said. "But will you have time for me when the summer comes around?"

"Anton, what are you talking about?"

"Your business idea. I know how easy it is to say, 'I'll just work forty hours a week, forty eight tops,' and then turn around to find you're doing a 80 hour plus work week. And when the baby comes, it will be even worse. Like I said earlier, I know it's silly, but I can't help but wonder if you'll have any time left for me?"

She stared at him, for a moment. "That's not--it's not silly at all." She turned slightly to face him, placing her hands on his knees. "I wish you would tell me this stuff more often, Anton."

"That I wonder if you'll have time for me?" he asked, baffled.

"No, how you're feeling." She looked down for a moment, a slight blush coming to her cheeks. "Ever since that fight, I haven't felt the same about us. Not about loving you," she said, seeing the worry cross his face, "but about your feelings for me. I wasn't sure if you still loved me the way you did before. I--I was worried that you might have asked me to stay because of the baby, more than anything else."

He started to open his mouth, but she pressed her fingers to his lips to silence him.

"See, I bet that sounds pretty ridiculous to you, right?" When he nodded, she continued. "But that's how I felt. And I couldn't sleep at night because I was so worried about it. But I wasn't going to say a word to you, because I thought the same thing you did--that you would think it was silly." She put her hands on his cheeks, framing his face. "I will always, always have time for you. No matter what. Even when the baby comes, you're my top priority, Anton. I can't say there won't be times when I'll seem a little preoccupied...but even if I was having tea with the Queen of England, if you needed me, I'd drop everything for you. Without a second thought."

He took her wrists in his hands, bringing them down to their laps. "Bryn, I had no idea... I love you, Bryn. The fact you're having my child is a bonus." He squeezed her hands gently. "I've always had problems talking about my emotions, Bryn, the ones that make me truly vulnerable. I'll try to be better about it, I promise."

She smiled, almost shyly. "Do you know that my heart speeds up every time you walk in the room? Even when I'm so mad at you that I could rip your head off?"

He couldn't help but laugh. "I guess it's a good thing I don't make you that mad very often."

"I meant what I said the other day, about you being my best friend, Anton. And that means so much to me, because I haven't had very many close friends in my life. Not many people are so lucky to be able to have a lover, a best friend, and a husband all in the same person." She smiled as he shuddered at the word husband. Putting her hands on his chest, she pressed lightly. "Lay down."

"Should I be nervous?" he said, lightly, smiling.

As he settled on to his back, she hovered over him, before straddling his body on hands and knees. "Maybe."

Not quite sitting down, she laid her hands on his chest, over his shirt, rubbing her hands in lazy sweeping circles. She leaned forward, her hair brushing his cheek, and kissed his jaw, his neck, his Adam's apple, the v-shaped hollow at the base of his throat. Dipping her tongue into that shallow valley, she smiled as he shivered below her.

"I love you, Anton."

"And I love you, Bryn."

He brought his arms around her, only to have them gently brought back to his sides. "No, don't move," she said. Sabryn leaned down and took his mouth in a passionate kiss. Their tongues dueled and Anton moaned as she pulled away from him.

She scooted back a bit on her knees, settling herself on his thighs, and leaned over him to start unbuttoning his shirt. She purposefully teased him with her hair, dragging it across his chest with every inch of bare skin she exposed. She lapped lightly at his nipples, making him writhe beneath her. She could feeling him hardening beneath her stomach, and she couldn't resist pressing against him with her breasts as she moved lower.

Dragging her fingernails through th